The semiconductor integrated circuit (IC) industry has experienced rapid growth. Technological advances in IC materials and design have produced generations of ICs where each generation has smaller and more complex circuits than the previous generation. However, these advances have increased the complexity of processing and manufacturing ICs and, for these advances to be realized, similar developments in IC processing and manufacturing are needed.
Ion implantation is an important process in semiconductor manufacturing for doping different atoms or molecules into a wafer. By employing ion implantation, the majority charge carriers of the implanted portions of the wafer may be altered so as to produce different types and levels of conductivity in regions of a wafer. Ion implanters are automated tools which are used to perform the ion implantation. In an ion implanter, an ion generator may generate an ion beam and direct the ion beam towards the target wafer. The target wafer should be handled properly onto the wafer holder for the implanter to properly implant the target wafer. The wafer holder may be used to hold the target wafer and avoid wafer breakage. In addition, it is important to achieve a uniform distribution of ions on the target wafer. If the implantation is not uniform, the dopant profile and an electronic device applying semiconductors of the wafer may be adversely affected.
Consequently, it is desirable to monitor the ion dose distribution of the ion beam generated by an ion implanter so that control of the ion implantation process may be improved.